Boat going through the canal, with the towpath on the right. Shipping things over water was much faster and cheaper than over primitive roads with horses and wagons.

The route of the canal as seen on an aerial view of Johnstown.

Canal boats were shaped to carry as much as possible in the shallow, narrow waterways.

1850s map of Johnstown showing the canal.

A canal basin.

Businesses sprung up along the canal in Johnstown.

Aqueducts – special bridges that carry water – helped the canal cross bridges.

An aqueduct carries the canal over the Little Conemaugh River.

After the railroad put the canal out of business, parts of the canal, like this wall, could still be seen in Johnstown.

This huge stone arch railroad bridge across the Little Conemaugh was originally a Portage RR viaduct. It held back the waters of the 1889 flood until it suddenly broke, releasing the floodwave with renewed power.

A painting of an aqueduct in action across the Little Conemaugh River, 1845,

A map of Johnstown during the canal heyday.

The canal charged tolls based on freight. Loaded boats were weighed at weighlock near Clinton Street in Johnstown.

The Portage Railroad carried canal boats over the mountains from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown. It was the engineering wonder of its time.

Some of the Portage Railroad buildings still stand at the National Portage Railroad Historic Site in Portage, operated by the National Park Service.